Contact breaker assemblies



' June 2, v I w. FRY Q CONTACT BREAKER ASSEMBLIES Filed Ju ne 2l, 1968 INVE TOR may.

YfiWJ ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office Patented June 2, 1970 3,515,833 CONTACT BREAKER ASSEMBLIES William Lawrence Fry, Birmingham, England, assignor to Joseph Lucas (Industries) Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Filed June 21, 1968, Ser. No. 739,081 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 25, 1967, 39,248/ 67 Int. Cl. Hlllh 1/58; H01r 9/18 US. Cl. 200--166 8 Claims ABSTRACT on THE DISCLOSUREW Contact breaker assembly comprises a plate adapted to be supported within a casing of an ignition distributor and carrying a fixed contact. A movable contact is movable into and out of engagement with the fixed contact, and a spring urges the movable contact into engagement with the fixed contact. Means are provided for anchoring one end of the spring to the plate, and said means includes a tag upstanding from the plate, an insulating member engageable with the tag, and a conductive member engageable with the insulating member, the conduct ive member being shaped to receive said one end of the spring.

This invention relates to contact breaker assemblies, for use in ignition distributors, of the kind comprising a plate adapted to be supported within the casing of an ignition distributor, a fixed contact carried by said plate, a movable contact, movable into and out of engagement with said fixed contact, a spring urging said movable contact into engagement with said fixed contact and means anchoring one end of said spring to said plate.

According to the invention in a contact breaker assembly of the kind specified said means anchoring one end of said spring to said plate comprises, a tag upstanding from said plate, an insulating member engageable with said tag, and a conductive member engageable with said insulating member said conductive member being shaped to receive said one end of said spring.

One example of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a plate of the contact breaker assembly,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an insulating member engageable with a tag on the plate shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an inverted plan view of a conductive member engageable with the insulating member shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 in FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the contact breaker assembly.

Referring to the drawings, the contact breaker assembly includes an arcuate plate 11 which is adapted to be pivotally supported on the timing plate of an ignition distributor. At one end thereof the plate 11 is formed with a hole 12 through which extends a pivot post upstanding from the timing plate of the distributor said post serving to pivotally interconnect the plate 11 and the timing plate. Upstanding from the plate 11 intermediate its end is a first integral tag 13 on which is mounted the fixed contact of the assembly. Pivotally mounted on the pivot post and spaced from the plate 11 by an insulating washer, is an insulating heel member, which carries the movable contact of the assembly. Secured to the heel member and electrically connected to the movable contact is one end of a conductive leaf spring 25, the other end of which is bent to define a generally circular loop 26.

Upstanding from the plate 11 at its end remote from the pivot post is a second integral tag 14 the edges of which are shaped to define barbs 15. Engageable with the tag 14 as an interference fit is a moulded insulating member 16. The member 16 is generally cylindrical and includes a central passage 17 within which the barbed portion of the tag 14 engages. At its lower end the member 16 includes an integral peripheral flange 18 and extending axially, upwardly from the flange 18 the member 16 includes a pair of diametrically opposite ribs 19.

There is further provided a conductive member 21. The member 21 includes a blind bore 22 of diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the member 16, within which the member 16 is received, the wall of the member 21 being formed with a pair of diametrically opposite slots 23 within which the ribs 19' of the member 16 are received. The member 21 is a push fit on the member 16, the ribs 19 of the member 16 preventing rotation of the member 21 relative to the member 16 and it will be appreciated that as the member 21 is pushed onto the member 16 the member 16 will be compressed thereby enhancing the engagement of the member 16 with the barbed portion of the tag 14. The member 21 further includes an axially extending screw threaded spigot 24.

In order to anchor the end of the spring 25 to the plate 11, the loop 26 of the said spring is engaged with the member 21 and a nut is engaged with the spigot 24 and screwed down to clamp the loop 26 of the spring 25 in place.

In use the plate 11 and therefore the fixed contact of the assembly is earthed through the casing of the distributor. The movable contact is electrically connected through said spring to a terminal member which is engaged with the spigot 24 of the member 21 and clamped in contact with the looped end of said spring by said nut. The terminal member is electrically connected through a lead and the primary winding of an ignition coil to one pole of a DC. source, the other pole of which is earthed, it being appreciated that the member 21 is insulated from the plate 11 by the member 16. Thus as the movable contact is moved into and out of engagement with the fixed contact the circuit through the primary winding of the ignition coil is made and broken. The high tension pulses so induced in the secondary winding of the ignition coil are distributed to the sparking plugs of the engine in turn in the usual manner.

It will be appreciated that the insulating heel member which carries the movable contact could be pivotally mounted on a post carried by the plate 11, the plate 11 being engaged with the timing plate of the distributor, for pivotal movement about the axis of such a post by means of a short post integral with the timing plate.

The plate 11 is formed with an arcuate slot through which a screw extends into engagement with the timing plate, the screw being tightened to clamp the plate 11 to the timing plate and being released to allow the plate 11 to be pivoted relative to the timing plate to facilitate adjustment of the operating gap between the fixed and movable contacts in known manner.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An improved contact breaker assembly for use in ignition distributors, of the type having a plate adapted to be supported within the casing of an ignition distributor, a fixed contact carried by the plate, a movable contact, movable into and out of engagement with said fixed contact, a spring urging said movable contact into engagement with said fixed contact, and means anchoring one end of said spring to said plate, the improvement being that said means anchoring one end of said spring to said plate comprises:

a tag upstanding from said plate, an insulating member engaged with said tag, and, a conductive member engaged with said insulating member, said conductive member including a portion shaped to received said one end of said spring. 2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said insulating member is formed With a passage within which said tag is received, the relative dimensions of said tag and 'said passage being such that said insulating member is engaged as an interference fit with said tag.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said insulating member is engaged as a close fit in said conductive member.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tag is provided with barbs, and said insulating member is compressed by engagement of the conductive member therewith.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conductive member surrounds the insulating member and the conductive member and the insulating member are provided with mating parts which prevent relative rotation between the parts.

6. An assembly a claimed in claim 1 wherein said one end of said spring defines a loop which is engaged with said conductive member.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said conductive member is provided with a screw threaded portion with which a screw fastener is engaged to secure said one end of said spring to said conductive member.

8. An assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein said screw threaded part is an integral spigot and said screw fastener is a nut.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,995,617 8/1961 Maximotf et a1. 3,033,947 5/1962 Johnson 200--19 X 3,086,074 4/1963 Just et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 953,173 3/1964 Great Britain.

HERMAN O. JONES, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 200--19; 339-221 

